Chapter 29. Moonlit Night (3)
"Since I'm feeling generous, why don't you just tell me now?"
Tang Sowol's gaze fixed squarely on me, waiting for my response. For a moment, I opened my mouth to speak, but all that escaped was a faint, inaudible hum.
It wasn't without reason. The interplay of light and shadow created by the moonlight, combined with her melancholic smile, made her seem so much like the Tang Sowol of my past life—the woman I had loved deeply.
Tang Sowol waited for my reply for a while, but when I couldn't bring myself to say anything, she lowered her head in silence.
Her hair cascaded down, veiling her face, leaving me unable to read her expression. In a quiet, almost whisper-like voice, she began to speak again.
"Do you know something? I quite like you, Brother Cheon."
"At first, I thought you were just strange… but the more I saw you, the more I realized you had much to teach me. The fact that you're younger also suits my preferences, and honestly, your face… well, it's quite my type."
She chuckled lightly, then turned fully to face me and raised her head.
The backlight obscured her features slightly, but her skin was flawless, without a single blemish. Her eyes quivered slightly, but they never avoided mine.
Before me was not the Tang Sowol, the Poison Dance Empress, who had endured countless battles and trials. What I saw instead was a young woman, just stepping into her role as a martial artist, nervously standing before the prospect of marriage.
"For some time now, I've felt a strange sense of dissonance. While we've been talking, Brother Cheon's gaze has often drifted into the void or grown distant with a certain wistfulness. Hasn't it?"
"It would have been better if it were just my imagination… but I see now that it wasn't."
Tang Sowol barely managed to lift the corners of her lips, forming a bitter smile.
"Even so, I still quite like you, Brother Cheon. So, let me change the question slightly."
She extended one hand and cupped my cheek, as if to stop me from looking away, silently urging me to focus solely on her in this moment.
"What do you think of me, Brother Cheon? Are you looking forward to this marriage, just as I am?"
Her voice carried a faint tremor of unease.
Finally, I opened my mouth to respond.
"Of course, I am looking forward to it as well."
I vividly remembered the promise we had made on a moonless night in my past life. I also remembered how that promise had ultimately ended.
To long for something that could never be—how could I not look forward to this?
But that wasn't the only reason.
"It's true that I was seeing someone else through you. But that person is no longer in this world."
Until now, I had blurred the line, convincing myself that the Tang Sowol of this life and the one I had loved in my previous life were fundamentally the same. But now I understood. The Tang Sowol before me and the Tang Sowol I had loved were different people.
I could never see the Tang Sowol of my past life again. It was time I accepted that. However…
"Still, that doesn't mean I can't see you, Tang Sowol."
After nearly two months spent together, I realized something. I wasn't drawn to her because of my past. I was drawn to Tang Sowol herself, as she was now.
Even if, for some reason, I were to return to the past again and meet a Tang Sowol without the memories of this life… or if I lost all memories of my past life and encountered her as a blank slate…
I would undoubtedly circle around her like a moth drawn to a flame.
"So, I hope you won't feel too anxious. I want you to look forward to the betrothal ceremony, just as I do."
Tang Sowol, still holding my cheek, froze for a moment. Her lips moved as though she wanted to say something, but it took her quite some time before she spoke.
"I must be such a simple woman. It only took a few words from you to ease my heart. But waiting idly for my presence to grow within you? That's not my style."
Stretch.
Tang Sowol suddenly tugged at my cheek with her hand. Startled, I found myself frozen in place, letting her do as she pleased. Her eyes, tinged faintly with green, curved into crescent moons as she smiled.
"From now on, I'll seduce you, Brother Cheon."
"What? What are you talking about?"
"Exactly what I said. If you fall for me, it won't be because you've forgotten someone else with time. It will be because you couldn't resist my charms."
Letting go of my cheek, she raised her index finger with a confident snap.
"Brother Cheon, you'll soon find yourself addicted—to me."
Her declaration was bold, even audacious. And though she must have known it, her ears turned bright red. Yet she didn't avert her gaze or lower her raised finger.
I stared at her blankly for a moment before nodding, and only then did Tang Sowol rise to her feet with a satisfied smile.
"Well, that's enough talk for now. I shouldn't stay much longer, as I snuck in here secretly. It wouldn't do to be caught."
"Yes, I suppose it wouldn't. Regardless of our engagement, it wouldn't reflect well for you to be seen entering a man's room late at night."
"Why does it sound like you're accusing me of doing something improper?"
Tang Sowol pouted her lips, then suddenly grabbed my hand and brought it to her mouth.
"Chomp."
She bit my finger—not hard enough to draw blood, but enough to leave teeth marks and a slight sting.
"What are you doing?"
"Well, if people are going to misunderstand, I might as well give them something real to misunderstand."
For a moment, I could only stare at her incredulously. But soon, she giggled and added an explanation.
"Of course, it wasn't just a bite. I also applied the venom of the Shuangtou Shechong."
"Venom?"
It didn't feel like poison. But then again, it wasn't like Tang Sowol would ever harm me. Still, curious, I raised my bitten finger to my nose.
Tang Sowol panicked, quickly batting my hand away.
"Why are you smelling it!?"
"Well, you said it was venom, so I was curious."
"There's no scent to it, so just stop!"
"It felt like there was, even if faint…"
"It's not poison, so don't worry about it!"
Saying that, she rubbed the back of my hand vigorously with her sleeve.
"What are you doing now? You're the one who applied the venom, but now you're wiping it off?"
Though I said nothing further, my questioning gaze seemed to make her sigh. She then began to explain.
"The Shuangtou Shechong is a mystical lizard with two heads. When it matures, one head falls off, and the two become separate lizards."
"That's… peculiar."
"But it doesn't stop there. For the lizard to fully mature, one head must devour the other. That's why they coat each other in venom—to recognize one another even from afar."
"And you applied that venom to me?"
"Yes. Now, as long as you're not too far away, I'll always know where you are."
"Can I sense your location as well?"
"If you mastered venom-based martial arts and transformed your dantian into a venom core, then perhaps."
After a brief pause, I glanced at my finger again. A thought suddenly struck me.
"Wait. Are you saying anyone skilled in venom-based arts could recognize this venom?"
"Since it's a mark using my venom, only I can track your location from afar. However…"
"However?"
"If they see you up close, they might notice the venom of the Shuangtou Shechong on you. That's partly why I applied it—to make it clear to others. Think of it as a territorial marker. To the elders of my family, it will signal my determination to be with you."
Tang Sowol grinned playfully as she explained, then reached for the door handle.
"Well then, rest well, Brother Cheon. I'll sneak back to my room before dawn."
"Mm."
I nodded absentmindedly, and with that, she left without looking back.
Staring at my hand, still warm from her touch, I chuckled faintly.
"Well, I suppose that's fine."
The moonlight poured down from a cloudless sky. I sat in a meditative posture and gazed up at the full moon I had once longed for so desperately.
Though I had been awakened by Tang Sowol's visit, my body, still recovering from internal and external injuries, required rest.
Having slept enough, I returned my focus to Raging Wave Death-Stealing Art and began circulating my energy. The murderous aura that usually accompanied my inner energy felt unusually subdued tonight.
***
"Make sure to lock your door at night," came the sudden voice.
"Huh?"
The next morning, as I stretched to relieve the stiffness from meditating all night, Tang Jincheon approached out of nowhere, his eyes fixed on my hand—the one Sowol had bitten.
"If you don't, I might just wander into your room by mistake."
It seemed Tang Jincheon had already learned about Sowol's late-night visit.
As I froze in place, his hearty laughter filled the air. He patted me on the shoulder and added,
"Don't rush things too much. There's a proper order to everything, after all."
"I'm quite fond of keeping things in order myself, so there's no need to worry. Speaking of which, how is the interrogation going?"
"Hmph, trying to change the subject, are we? Well, I'll let it slide since you seem committed to following the proper steps. As for the interrogation… it's going to take some time."
"What?"
How could that be? This was the Tang Clan.
"I can see the confusion on your face. Let me guess—you're shocked that the Tang Clan's interrogation is dragging on, aren't you?"
"Well… to be honest, yes."
This was before Tang Sowol became the Poison Dance Empress. In the current martial world, there was no one more knowledgeable about poisons than Tang Jincheon, the Poison King.
And the Tang Clan was renowned not just for its mastery of poisons but also for its expertise in medicine.
For someone like him to claim the interrogation was taking time—it was surprising, to say the least.
"Surely you're not holding back, are you…?"
"Of course not. The Tang Clan may present itself as righteous, but there's no reason to show mercy to someone who tried to kill one of our own. You know our family's motto."
"Then what's the problem? No matter how strong their will is, your poisons should make them confess against their will."
Tang Jincheon chuckled. "You know your stuff. Most people break under pain, but there are those whose resolve only hardens. The Demonic Cult is full of such tenacious individuals. Breaking their will isn't the issue—it's clouding their judgment that's key."
I nodded, recalling how Sowol had once interrogated members of the Demonic Cult in my past life.
But perhaps it wasn't as easy as it seemed. Jincheon sighed heavily and continued.
"Using Bewildering Soul Poison to muddle their judgment worked… but when we try to get them to reveal the mastermind behind everything, they're blocked by a mental restriction."
"Ah…"
The Demonic Cult was infamous for placing such restrictions on its followers.
"In that case, I think I might be able to help…"
After all, methods to counter such restrictions had been actively studied before.